Silver Linings

They say that every cloud has a silver lining.  I can attest to the fact that some clouds even have gold linings! 

The upside of a cloudy dawn is the magnificence of the sunrise that happens when the clouds are at just the right spot.

Yesterday’s sunrise had many magical moments.  As we began our morning chores :

With the ducks, guineas, horses, donkeys, sheep and pigs cared for we head across the farm to finish our chores - chicken, turkey, and goat chores remained.  Way at the end of our pasture fence, the sun is rising higher and the clouds are on fire.

Sunrise at the vanishing point.

Pulling oneself out of bed when it is still dark outside is very often rewarded with scenes such as these. To me, seeing the morning sky like this is better than an extra half hour of sleep any day!  Yesterday, as the sun rose, the mercury was hovering around 7˚ F.... bone-chilling cold, yes - but, invigorating as well. 

Hubbs and I ran to town to pick up fresh veggies at the grocery store.  How wonderful it is when we can forgo this errand and run to our garden instead!  We are still eating some things out of last summer's garden... onions and potatoes, pickles,  and frozen tomatoes and peppers remain.  The kale garden in the greenhouse has kept us in a steady supply of baby kale greens all winter long.  Unfortunately, because of a lack of sunshine, the kale never grows beyond the toddler stage!

By afternoon, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature reached a balmy 28˚ F.  I stop in the pig yard to clean up today's droppings and am greeted by two smiling faces.

  They never miss an opportunity to meet me at the treat box.  Of course their effort is rewarded!

Afterwards, they head back to their house for a fresh drink of water.  I fill up their heated bucket and Ginger takes a swig.

MaryAnn, eating snow at this point,

 waits for me to fill their rubber dish with the remainder of the water in my can.  Then she sticks her cute little piggy lips out across the dish and slurps water as it comes out of the water can.

She does this almost every day... it's her thing.  Animals are funny that way.  They have little behaviors that are unique to themselves and are creatures of habit.

They always make me smile!

It occurs to me that I have not recently updated you on Chloe's post-surgery status.  You might remember that Dr. Becky, after trying all manner of treatments for Chloe's sarcoid neck tumor, did a wide resection of the skin and tissue of Chloe's neck to hopefully remove any remaining tumor cells.  As expected, it is taking a long time for her neck to completely heal, although, with as open as it was... I am amazed at how good it looks at this point.  A few more weeks of healing and she should be as good as new!

(Daphne in front, Chloe in back)

As for Chloe... she has never missed a beat - she just keeps on keeping' on!  Check out the photo above... don't donkeys have the loveliest eyeliner?